Pimento cheese is a southern staple and pretty simple stuff. I grew up on it, so did my husband. I don't buy it at the grocery store because I make it myself. I always serve it on saltine crackers cuz it isn't fancy.

I start by cubing the cheese before putting it in my mini food processor.

I process the cheese to break the cubes into crumbles then in go the rest of the ingredients. The red pepper flakes are from our garden. They're a super hot mixture of ghost, habanero, Joe's round and red caribbean peppers. If I was going to use store bought flakes, I'd add about 1/4 teaspoon.

Give it a whirl in your food processor and it's done!

I met two documentary filmmakers at a cookout last weekend who recently completed a short film titled 'Pimento Cheese, Please!' I took a batch and it was very well received (they took home the leftovers). It makes a great appetizer and is usually even better the day after you make it.

Our mail lady just delivered me the most wonderful package from thisbirdsabsurd! She definitely spoiled me. I had a sewing machine caddy/mat on my wish list. She made me one in a day of the dead theme. It's got pockets along the front so I can always have the things I'm forever looking for at hand!

Continuing with the theme, a DoD skull pincushion that she made out of poly clay. Can you believe that?? There's also a decorated measuring tape that's going to be tucked into one of those caddy pockets, the most gorgeous pair of scissors with a skull charm, pins and thread.

Here's a rear view of the pincushion and the flip side of the measuring tape. She also sent me some gorgeous fabric and 100% wool felt (drool!).

A side view of the skull. LOVE this!

And a terribly backlit photo of everything together. Thank you so much, Jen, I LOVE everything you sent!

I've been pretty quiet with posting because I've been sewing up a storm. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Master Craftster and the series just got posted. Here are my finished pieces. The tote bag, tea towel and dish draining mat are all for me.

Sponsored Content* To see the overview of this Master Craftsters campaign, click here.* To read more about the machine used in this project, explore BERNINA's website here.

Sweet Appliqued Tote Bag using the BERNINA 350PE

One of my favorite Craftsters is funthreads. I fell in love with the 'Snack Attack' quilt she posted last year and it inspired me to make a tote bag using her sweet theme. This project gave me a chance to give applique a try using the BERNINA 350 Patchwork Edition.

The adhesive product I use for appliqueing is called Lite Steam-A-Seam 2. It's an iron on fusible webbing that is sticky on both sides and comes packaged between two sheets of protective paper.

I drew the pattern shapes on the protective paper on one side of the webbing then peeled away the opposite paper and ironed the webbing onto the wrong side of my fabrics. This allowed me to then cut my applique pieces to their exact finished sizes with a bit of adhesive on the back. In this photo, on the left you see the webbing and paper ironed onto the wrong side of my frosting fabric and on the right you see my cut finished cupcake liner and cherry fabric pieces.

I sewed a strip of wood-grain fabric to the bottom of my background fabric and laid all the pieces out the way I wanted them. I set aside the frosting and cherries then peeled the paper backing from the cupcake liners and ironed them in place.

From here, they are lightly adhered to the fabric and ready to be sewn on. I decided to use the BERNINA's blanket stitch (#78) and sewed carefully along the edge of the cupcake liners. The BERNINA has a speed control feature, so I was able to adjust it to a speed I was comfortable with for this intricate work.

Once all the liners were sewn in place, I peeled off the paper backing from the frosting layers and ironed them in place. A super quick change of thread color and I was off and running again.

Here's a close up of the machine blanket stitching around the cherries on top.

Here's the finished tote bag front with everything sewn in place. I was very pleased with my experience appliqueing using the BERNINA 350PE.

For the back, I made a patchwork gumball machine filled with a fun candy fabric. I'm obsessive about collecting candy and snack prints, I love to have them on hand for inspiration.

I lined it and added some complementary straps to finish it off. This immediately became my favorite tote bag ever! I'm expecting to get lots and lots of comments on it.

Funthreads is hosting the full quilt pattern for free on her blog for a short time. If you're inspired by her as much as I am, hop on over soon to download the PDF! http://funthreads.blogspot.com/p/quilt-tutorials.html

Sponsored Content* To see the overview of this Master Craftsters campaign, click here.* To read more about the machine used in this project, explore BERNINA's website here.

Scrappy Business Card Wallet using the BERNINA 350PE

I decided my first project with the BERNINA 350 Patchwork Edition would be something simple: a business card wallet. It could also be used to carry all those extra cards that take up space in your regular wallet... store rewards cards, airline hotel and car rental membership cards, your library card. You know, those things you don't use every day that just make your wallet fat.

One of the things I love about this project is I get to rummage through my scrap bin and resurrect my favorite fabrics into something new and functional. Here's what you'll need: 5 by 6 inch cuts of both your interior and exterior fabrics and also a piece of flannel which will give your wallet some stability. Cut two 3 by 5 inch pieces of your pocket fabric. You'll also need a coordinating button and hair elastic.

I selected the No. 1 presser foot for this project, because it allows me to easily sew both a 1/4 and 1/8 inch seam, and I'll need both. The feet just snap into place, they're super easy to change out. Start with your pocket fabric. Fold the long edge over 3/8 inch and press it with a hot iron. Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the pressed edge.

Pin the wrong side of your pockets to the right side of your interior fabric along the 5 inch edges. Sew them in place with a 1/8 inch seam to anchor them for the next step.

Now it's time to sandwich your fabrics together. Lay the piece you just sewed right side up and place your exterior fabric on top. They need to have right sides touching. Then lay your flannel on top of that and pin everything together.

Starting along whichever short edge you want the elastic to be attached to, sew a 1/4 inch seam around your pinned fabric stack, making sure you leave about 2 inches open so you'll be able to turn it right side out.

Take a pair of sharp scissors and round off the corners.

Turn it right side out through the 2 inch opening. I use a chopstick to get into the corners. Press your wallet, making sure you tuck in and press the fabric at the opening.

Pin the hair elastic in place at the center of the open edge.

Sew around the entire wallet with a 1/8 inch topstitch. Make sure you sew over the hair elastic a few times to anchor it in place. The final step is to hand sew a button on the opposite side from the elastic and you're done!

Sponsored Content* To see the overview of this Master Craftsters campaign, click here.* To read more about the machine used in this project, explore BERNINA's website here.

Patchwork Portable Sewing Wallet using the BERNINA 350PE

I decided to try the BERNINA 350 Patchwork Edition on a project I've made quite a few of over the years - a portable sewing wallet. I had in mind some variations to try which utilize a few of the machine's special features.

In the past, I've done these with a solid fabric front but decided to make a scrappy version with some lettering as a focal. The BERNINA 350PE makes lettering super easy! See the 'A' button on the right? Just use it to scroll through the alphabet. I started with the letter 'M', you can see it selected in the LCD screen on the left.

The word I decided to use for the center front of the wallet was 'MAKER', which I felt was appropriate for an embroiderer or hand stitcher. Here's a side view of the word being sewn.

Since I was going to make this version of the sewing wallet scrappy, I went with a log cabin design. I added strips of colorful fabric to the top and bottom of my center piece, then to the sides. I just repeated this process until I got it to a size I liked.

I made the back cover in the same fashion, then trimmed it to be the same size as the finished front piece. Here are the front and back completed.

I used a pink and purple batik fabric for the interior, cut to the same size as the front and back panels. Here I'm attaching a side pocket. To secure the pocket, I anchored it by tracing the stitch in reverse for about a quarter inch. The reverse button is so handy on this machine.

I knew I wanted to include a piece of felt to hold pins/needles. I decided to try to combine a decorative stitch with the machine's alphabet capability. Reviewing the stitch pattern summary card, I selected a lovely floral (#68) and programmed it into the machine. One really handy feature is the pattern end button. When you select it, the BERNINA 350PE sews just one decorative stitch pattern at a time (exactly what you see on the card). It stops sewing when it's done. To sew another one, just lift your foot off of the pedal and push it down again.

I decided to write the word 'PINS' between the floral decorative stitching, all in one line. The BERNINA combined the decorative and alphabet stitching together. So cool!

When I had both interior panels completed to my liking, I sewed it together with some fusible fleece inside to give the wallet some structure. To finish it off, I sewed a ribbon to the interior that will secure a pair of scissors and made a small pincushion that fits into one of the interior pockets.

This is my favorite version yet! I'm loving how the crazy colors work together, and the lovely decorative touches I was able to include thanks to this machine.

Sponsored Content* To see the overview of this Master Craftsters campaign, click here.* To read more about the machine used in this project, explore BERNINA's website here.

Decorative Stitching Adventures using the BERNINA 350PE

When I got the BERNINA 350 Patchwork Edition out of the box, the very first thing I did was try out the decorative stitches. They immediately reminded me of the stitches in a crazy quilt, which I've always admired, so I decided to try it out. I have a lot of black, white, and gray fabrics. I knew they would make a good background for my experiment so I stitched up a random crazy quilt block onto a piece of white cotton fabric that measured 14 by 16 inches.

The BERNINA's stitch pattern reference card had a LOT of stitches I wanted to try. Luckily, I had a lot of seams that needed embellishment!

I loaded some bright red thread into the machine, selected the stitch number I wanted to play with and started sewing. Here's what the first pass looked like. Delightful!

Each pattern was more fun than the last!

Here it is finished, a successful experiment. Now I have a lovely piece of crazy quilted fabric, what shall I do with it? I've been meaning to make one of those dish drying mats, so that's the plan.

I rounded off the corners.

Then I pinned the decorated side onto a white terrycloth towel and sewed around the edges with a 1/4 inch seam. I made sure to leave a few inches open along one of the sides so it could be turned rightside out. After trimming away the excess terrycloth, I turned it rightside out and handstitched the opening shut.

Clipped the corners...

And done!

I loved this project. It was fun to play with the different stitches and I'm so happy with the functional finished product!

Sponsored Content* To see the overview of this Master Craftsters campaign, click here.* To read more about the machine used in this project, explore BERNINA's website here.

A Quick Way To Brighten Your Kitchen using the BERNINA 350PE

Two of my favorite things are cooking and sewing patchwork projects. I have a serious stash of food related fabrics and needed something to brighten up my kitchen so this patchwork embellished kitchen towel was born.

I had a plain white waffle kitchen towel I got at WalMart. It measures 15 inches across. I started doing the math on how many prints I could fit in and decided if the patches were 1.5 inches across, that would work nicely. That meant I needed 10 different food fabrics. Did I have enough in my stash of scraps? You bet (and then some)! Since each piece would get a 1/4 inch seam, I cut the prints 2 inches wide and settled on 3 inches for the height. Go ahead and wash your towel before you get started, in case it shrinks.

The BERNINA 350 Patchwork Edition has an optional expanded work surface. It slides right in and pops in place, giving you a larger area to sew piecework. I started by placing the first two prints right side together then sewing up the 3 inch sides with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I pressed the seam open, grabbed the next print and sewed that one on.

Here's the last piece being sewn on. It came together really fast!

I decided that red ric rac would make an excellent accent to the patchwork piece. This is jumbo sized ric rac and my first time working with it. I pinned it to the right side of the patchwork.

Then I just sewed straight down the center of the ric rac. It was really easy to keep it centered, using the BERNINA's pressure foot as a guide. Here's a side view showing how straight down the center the seam was.

Once it's sewed on, just turn it under and press. How easy and how fancy looking!

I pinned the patchwork strip to the towel about 5 inches up from the bottom. The extra 1/4 inch of fabric on both end pieces (the blueberries and the blackberries) got tucked under and pinned in place. I didn't want the stitching to be obvious from the back of the towel so I kept the bobbin thread white when I switched the top thread to a vibrant red. The patchwork was secured to the towel with a straight stitch along all four sides.

I love how this quick project turned out and plan to make bunches more.

Packaged with some homemade soap and strawberry preserves in a handmade pottery bowl, it makes the perfect hostess gift!